The holiday season is upon us and it is my busiest time of year. Every day is spent rushing from one activity to another and as for cooking dinner each night, it falls far down on my list. I don’t like to stop by the drive through each evening and preparing a packaged meal night after night annoys my family. “When are you going to cook?” they ask. Recently, I was introduced to a service called Once a Month Meals, which offers a month of meal options that can be prepared in one afternoon. They feature a new set of recipe card each month for a variety of diets, gluten and dairy free, diet, vegetarian, paleo, whole foods, mini, and baby and toddler. The basic subscription, which is $10 a month or $99 per year, shows how to spend one afternoon a month cooking meals that can be stored in the freezer and pulled out as needed, saving time, money and offering healthier meal choices.
Once A Month Meals membership provides you access to serving size customizable recipe cards, freezer directions, organized grocery lists, step by step cooking day instructions, and printable labels. Everything you need to cook a month worth of meals in one day.
I tried Once a Month meals to see if it could help me simplify my life. I began by browsing the “Get Started” section for helpful hints and learned that cooking an entire month worth of meals would require choosing the menu I wanted, preparing a grocery list, shopping and devoting six to twelve hours to cooking time. This seemed reasonable since I spend a lot more than twelve hours of cooking a month. I went with the traditional menu because, even though my daughter has celiac, the rest of the family are not fans of gluten free. I knew I could always come back and fix her a gluten free menu later. I simply needed to print off my shopping list, grab my groceries and start cooking. The menus are designed to include breakfasts, lunches and dinners, plus several “grab and go meals,” which means I have the ingredients on hand and throw them together on busy days. (One note: the menu is designed to have the same meal twice during a month so if you find something your family doesn’t care for, this would have to be adjusted.)
I included a simple recipe from their site for Eggo Breakfast Sandwiches which take only three ingredients if you purchase frozen waffles, but they also include the recipe to make your own waffles if you prefer. I made a batch of these and liked them so much I have had them for breakfast everyday since.
- •8 each premade frozen waffles (or make your own)
- •4 slices cheddar cheese
- •4.5 ounces deli ham
- Preheat oven to broil. Top half of waffles with one slice of cheese and two slices of ham. Place other half of waffles on top of ham to form sandwiches. Broil sandwiches on a baking sheet for 4-5 minutes, until outside is crispy and cheese is melted.
- Freezing Directions:
- Prepare sandwiches as directed above but do not cook. Wrap sandwiches individually with plastic wrap, place into gallon freezer bag, label and freeze. To serve: thaw in fridge. Preheat oven to broil. Broil sandwiches on a baking sheet for 4-5 minutes, until outside is crispy and cheese is melted.
Having the meals prepared in advance seems like it while be a huge time and money saver. Have you tried Once a Month Meals? Do you cook in bulk? What is your favorite dish to make ahead and freeze?
Thanks for a great post Pam!
Love the idea of cooking once!
That looks great! What a fab idea and such a time saver.
I’d love to share this with my family, as we are always looking for new recipes!
This sounds very interesting! I’d love to see what they come up to make in an afternoon that’ll last a month 🙂
I’m a once a week cooker. I cook a couple of big things on sundays and freeze them individually (lasagna, chili, casseroles, bbq, etc.). After a month I have a great variety in the freezer of pre-maid homemade meals. Gotta say, I like the idea of once a month though….
That sandwich looks great – and what an awesome idea. Thanks for sharing.
I have to say that I’ve never had a waffle sandwich before, but it looks great.
I love the idea of a waffle sandwich. Hearty and easy to take on the go. You could load that up with all kinds of good stuff every morning.
I have never considered cooking once per month and then eating those meals all month long. It is an interesting idea. I will have to look into it more.
YUM! This is a great idea and would save me time in the mornings!
i loveeeeee this idea!! woot!! i hate grocery shopping
My kids love Eggos, but have never thought of making pre-made sandwiches. Thanks for the tip.
Never thought of a waffle sandwich, but I think it could be pretty good. I am always looking for unique meal ideas. Cook Once Eat All Month sounds like a wonderful tool for a busy family. Thanks for the tip.
A waffle with cheese and ham or an egg thrown in would really make a good breakfast sandwich. Once a Month Meals seems like a good program to help people get organized in the kitchen.
That is a neat idea. When I worked outside the home, I cooked once a week and froze some and then just re-heated it through the week. It cut down on time for me.
Wow cook once, eat all month long….that’s hard to believe but worth a shot checking in to. Those waffles do look good. Thanks for the info.
This would make my life so easy. Thank you for the post.
Waffle sandwiches sound yummy. I need to work more on frozen meals — I know they would really help our busy family!
Great idea, waffles look wonderful. Thanks for this idea:)
What convenience! I am out of the house at least 10 hours a day so coming home & cooking is not on top of my list either.
I love these recipes and ideas. As a Working Mom, I am always burning the candle at both ends and trying to make enough time to get everything done. Having these quick and easy meal options and ideas would help me so much.
What a cool idea, this sounds really interesting.
Thanks for sharing the recipe, how fun! I love waffles, I think my son would get a kick out of these!
Cool only once a month? I could totally dig that!
I like to make PB&Js on whole wheat waffles. Yum!
OMG! I have never thought of making a waffle sandwich, but it looks ridiculously amazing! I will have to try this out, thanks!
That’s an interesting concept; I can see where that would be so helpful for busy moms! I don’t generally cook in bulk because my husband and I don’t have any kids yet, so making meals isn’t a hectic experience for us at this point. Ask me that question in ten years, and I’m sure my response will be different. 😉 LOL
My kids just love waffles. I bet they’d eat this up!
Yum to waffle sandwiches! We’ll have to try this. I need to get back on track with planning ahead for meals, this could be a very useful tool to help!
The waffle idea is brilliant. My grand kids won’t eat bread so sandwiches are a problem but they will eat waffles. Love it.
What a fantastic idea, especially for breakfasts since I never want to wake up in the morning and then I’m rushing around. This would work for me.
I will have to give these waffles a try.. I LOVE waffles!!! They might just how one could get into my heart. This service sounds like a pretty awesome thing. I will be looking into it in just a minute!
What an amazing idea – I hate (and I’m awful) at cooking so getting everything done in one night might make things more manageable for me. x
It is only me so I doubt I would try this service but it does sound like a win win!! As for that breakfast recipe–I may just try that one for myself one of these cold winter weekend days!!
I’ve always wanted to make batch meals but never get around to it. I really need a deep freezer first.
For a family of 6 this sounds like a lifesaver although we don’t have that big a freezer to store all that food. My kids also don’t like leftovers so we usually have to cook on a daily basis.
Back when my kids were little, seems everyone I knew did the “once a month cooking”. I am a cook, I love to cook, cooking once a month seems like torture to me. If you work and can’t or don’t like to cook it is a perfect solution but not for me.
those Waffel sandwiches look really good I may try that this coming week! Creative! I need to check out Once a Month Meals too!
This looks like a great, easy and fun snack! Perfect for lazy Sunday snacking or a scrummy breakfast! Thank you!
Awesome idea and this would probably seriously be a huge time saver on those days after the kids get home from school and I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off.
That waffle sandwich looks great. I would never have thought of using a waffle in place of bread. If you put an egg with the ham and cheese, that would be breakfast.